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The 31 new safety recommendations that the National Transportation Safety Board made yesterday in response to Norfolk Southern’s hazardous materials wreck in East Palestine, Ohio, have prompted a flurry of responses from the rail industry, lawmakers, and union leaders. The Feb. 3, 2023, derailment was caused by the failure of a wheel bearing on a […]
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A German manufacturer of concrete railroad ties will open a factory in North Las Vegas to help supply the Brightline West project, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. PCM Railone AG, which production facilities in 12 countries, specializes in track systems and concrete ties for projects that go 186 mph or […]
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — More than 20 months after it was unveiled in Berlin and nine months after its U.S. debut, the first Stadler hydrogen-fuel-cell powered FLIRT H2 trainset has arrived in San Bernardino, where it will operate on Southern California’s Arrow commuter rail line. The first-of-its-kind trainset arrived on June 21, after leaving Pueblo, […]
What are railroad tower operations? Railroad tower operations can have at least two meanings. One is what happens inside a tower, or more specifically, an interlocking tower. The other is a way of running a railroad, by using the operators in interlocking towers to control traffic through specific points of the railroad. So, why do […]
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy sharply criticized Norfolk Southern today for the way it responded to the board’s investigation of the Feb. 3, 2023, hazardous materials derailment in East Palestine. NS stonewalled board requests for information, ran its own probe on the side in violation of NTSB rules, and […]
In memoriam: Lionel enthusiast and historian Fred “Skip” Natoli died on June 17, 2024. We at Classic Toy Trains remember him with gratitude for sharing his O gauge layout with our readers and offering insights on how to model New York City during the post-World War II decades with elegance and wonder. A native of […]
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio – Norfolk Southern and its contractors should not have decided to vent and burn derailed tank cars carrying vinyl chloride three days after the Feb. 3, 2023, derailment in East Palestine, the National Transportation Safety Board said today (Tuesday, June 25). The five tank cars were among the 38 cars of train […]
MONTREAL — Commuter operator Exo is set to begin operating 44 new bilevel railcars built by China’s CRRC on its Saint-Jérôme line today (Tuesday, June 25). At least one set of the cars, part of a C$204 million order, was reportedly in service as of last Friday, June 21. The original 24-car order was modified […]
JOGUES, Ontario — Ten cars of a Canadian National train derailed Monday, June 24, in northeastern Ontario, leading to a precautionary evacuation because of a diesel fuel leak from one of the cars. CTV News reports the incident occurred about 2:45 p.m. in Jogues. The community of 214 is about 5 miles southwest of Hearst, […]
Norfolk Southern is installing Digital Train Inspection (DTI) portals at key locations on its 22-state network. Each portal features sensors, stadium lighting, and an array of ultra-high-resolution cameras mounted above, below, and on either side of the rails. As trains pass through the portal — at speeds up to 70 mph — images from the […]
HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. — CSX has reopened one track of its two-track main line at Harpers Ferry, W.Va., about 3:30 a.m. today (Tuesday, June 25) and expected the other to be reopened by midday following Monday’s fire on the bridge across the Potomac River. The Hagerstown Herald-Mail reports railroad spokesman Bryan Tucker wrote in an […]
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to review the appeals court ruling blocking construction of the Uinta Basin Railway, the Associated Press reports. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last year struck down Surface Transportation Board approval of the 88-mile rail project in a remote portion of eastern Utah. […]
